1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pneumatic guns. More specifically, this invention relates to sensing of a paintball in a paintball marker.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pneumatic paintball markers use a compressed gas, such as air or nitrogen, to propel spherical projectiles called paintballs out of the barrel of the device. Paintballs are typically comprised of a colored liquid enclosed in a fragile gelatin casing. The paintballs are designed to rupture upon impact to mark the target.
In the sport known as “Paintball,” paintballs are fired at an opponent and burst upon contact, so that the colored liquid is deposited on the opponent. However, a deformation of the paintball prior to being fired can lead to jamming in the feed port of the paintball marker or only partial insertion of the paintball into the breech. A partially inserted paintball may result in the chopping of the paintball and fouling of the breech and barrel.
A sensor is recessed within the breech and senses the presence of a paintball. Known sensors are mounted by drilling a hole through the breech and locating the sensor within the hole so as to be recessed from the breech. The sensor may be a break beam type having a sending part on one side of the breech and a sensor, like a phototransistor, on the other side of the breech.
The paintball that falls into the breech of the gun breaks the light beam. A user may then fire the paintball marker. Alternatively, a transceiver is placed on one side of the breech and transmits a beam of light into the breech. Instead of the light being sensed on the opposite side of the breech, the transceiver senses the reflection of the light beam off of a paintball. When the beam of light reflects off of the paintball and back towards the transceiver, the paintball gun may be fired.
However, when contaminants such as dirt, water, lubricant, or paint from a broken paintball gets inside the breech of the paintball gun the sensor gets “dirty” and is unable to correctly indicate whether a paintball is properly positioned within the breech. If the anti-chop eyes become dirty, the marker may default to a reduced rate of fire to prevent chopping. Once contaminated, the user manually cleans the sensors to enable the eye function.